Bairnsdale (locally )Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. (Ganai: Wy-yung) is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, situated in a region traditionally inhabited by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated population of the Bairnsdale urban area was 17,666 at June 2023. The city serves as a major regional centre of eastern Victoria, alongside Traralgon and Sale, acting as the commercial hub for the East Gippsland region and the seat of local government for the Shire of East Gippsland. Bairnsdale was first proclaimed as a shire on 16 July 1868 and later elevated to city status on 14 July 1990. Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.
History
Indigenous heritage
The Gunaikurnai people are the traditional owners of Gippsland, including the region where Bairnsdale is located. There are approximately 3,000 Gunaikurnai people, whose traditional territory encompasses both coastal and inland areas extending to the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The Gunaikurnai consist of five major clans, including the Tatungalung, who are recognized as the traditional custodians of the Bairnsdale area.
The Ganai (or Kurnai) word "Wy-yung" refers to a type of duck, specifically the black swan, which is often associated with waterfowl in Indigenous Australian languages, while the Bairnsdale backwater area is known as Kauan, meaning echidna.
European settlement
The origin of the city's name is uncertain. It was possibly Bernisdale, with "Bernis-dale" originating from "Bjorn's dale, or glen", which indicates the Viking origins of the Skye village. Legend has it that Macleod was so impressed by the large number of children on the run, the children of his stockmen, that he called it Bairns-dale, or "valley of the children".
In 1876, the Bairnsdale Shire, which grew to become one of the largest in Victoria in the 1880s, was led out of administrative chaos by former shire auditor and shipping agent Herman Bredt. He had also acted as a mine manager for the nearby Sons of Freedom mine. German-born Bredt was the father of Bertha Bredt, who married the famous Australian poet and writer Henry Lawson. Prior to this, she had worked at the Bairnsdale Hospital. During this period, Bairnsdale's Main Street was fashioned, though it remained unsealed, leading to issues with dust in the summer and mud in the winter. Asphalting did not take place until 1883. Nicholson Street was formed in 1877, followed by MacLeod Street in 1879.
Geography
Bairnsdale is sited on a bend of the Mitchell River, with the river flowing from the west along the northern edge of the town, before turning south to flow along the eastern edge, although suburbs are now found across the river to both north and east, e.g. Wy Yung, Eastwood and Lucknow.
Mount Taylor is a mountain located just north of Bairnsdale and is a well-known landmark in the region, visible from many miles away, and holds historical significance dating back to the mid-19th century gold rush era.
The area surrounding Mount Taylor was heavily impacted by the discovery of gold in local creeks and rivers in 1857, leading to extensive prospecting activities. This resulted in the establishment of the township of Bullumwaal, formerly known as Allanvale and later renamed in 1870. The name "Bullumwaal" is derived from an Aboriginal word believed to mean , symbolizing the nearby mountains of Mount Lookout and Mount Taylor.Cotte, S., Fleischer, N., Hocking, J., & Vardy, S. (2024). ‘I Don’t Want Bullumwaal to be Forgotten’: How the Community Led the Conservation of a 1897 Stage Curtain in Bullumwaal (East Gippsland, Australia). AICCM Bulletin, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10344233.2024.2302206
According to Hal Porter's account found in Echoes of the Victorian culture-clash frontier, John Davidson Smith and his son John Dudley Smith engaged in a legal dispute with John Loughnan and Frederick Taylor, the latter being the namesake of Mount Taylor. Frederick Taylor's name holds significance for those intrigued by pre-separation Victorian history, owing to his involvement in several racial conflicts during the late 1830s. His prominent role in the 1839 Murdering Gully massacre in Western Victoria, meticulously chronicled, firmly casts him as a symbol of the most egregious aspects of the state's frontier era.Porter, H. (1985). Bairnsdale: Portrait of an Australian Country Town. Sydney: John Ferguson.Buckley, Batman & Myndie, "Echoes of the Victorian culture-clash frontier: Sounding 1: Before 1840 and Sounding 2: Dispossession At Melbourne", compiled by David Kyhber Close. .
Geology Mount Taylor stands as a prominent geological feature in the Bairnsdale area and within the expansive Great Dividing Range. Over countless millennia, the geological formation of Mount Taylor and its surroundings has undergone a complex evolution, reflecting the dynamic forces that have shaped south-eastern Australia's geological history.Eastern Victoria Geoscience Initiative – Geology of eastern Victoria, resources.vic.gov.au
The area comprises Devonian granitic formations, indicating its ancient origins from significant geological processes. The geological narrative of eastern Victoria, where Mount Taylor resides, unfolds across an expanse of over 500 million years, tracing back to a primordial era when vast stretches of the region lay submerged beneath ancient oceanic waters.
A comprehensive geological survey of Victoria's Great Dividing Range reveals a distinct north-south alignment in its bedrock, a vestige of the bygone epochs of plate tectonics. This enduring geological framework, coupled with ongoing tectonic activity, contributes to the dynamic topography witnessed in the eastern Victorian landscape, including the majestic Australian Alps.
Soil and vegetation The soils in the Mount Taylor area are primarily red and brown gradational and duplex soils.Aldrick, J. M., Hook, R. A., van de Graaff, R. H. M., Nicholson, B. M., O'Beirne, D. A., & Schoknecht, N. R. (Year). A Study of the Land in the Catchment of the Gippsland Lakes (TC-17, Vol. 1). Land Protection Division, 250 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Australia, 3002. These soils support diverse native vegetation, including species of Eucalyptus such as E. albens, E. polyanthemos, E. globoidea, E. muellerana, E. baxteri, and E. macrorhyncha. The vegetation types range from dry sclerophyll forests to wet sclerophyll forests in moister areas, reflecting the varied climatic conditions across the terrain.
Land use and deterioration The primary land use around Mount Taylor includes conservation, forestry, recreation, and water supply. The area is managed for both its ecological value and its resources. However, the region is susceptible to various forms of land deterioration, including sheet, rill, and gully erosion, as well as mass movement, particularly in disturbed areas such as roads and cleared lands.Rees, D. B. (1996). Land Inventory of East Gippsland: A Reconnaissance Survey. Centre for Land Protection Research, Technical Report No. 23. Land Protection Branch, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. . ISSN 1038-216X. The region around Mount Taylor experiences significant rainfall, ranging between 700 and 1200 mm per annum, influencing both the soil profiles and the types of vegetation that thrive in the area.
Mitchell River
The Mitchell River flows into Lake King and Jones Bay at Eagle Point Bluff. The Mitchell, Tambo and Nicholson Rivers deliver a combined discharge of 1.1 gigalitres per year into the lakes system. The Strategic Management Plan quotes that about 100,000 tonnes of suspended solids (excluding bottom sediments) are estimated to enter the Gippsland Lakes each year from the catchments of the Mitchell, Tambo and Nicholson Rivers. Sediment loads from the western catchments (discharging to Lake Wellington) deliver two to three times the nutrient and sediment loads than from the eastern catchments (Mitchell, Nicholson and Tambo Rivers). Comparison of aerial photographs spanning 1935 to 1997 demonstrate that the vast majority of shorelines are eroding at an average of less than 10 cm per year.
The lower reaches of the Latrobe River, Thomson River and Mitchell River flow into the Gippsland Lakes and have extensive floodplains in which there are large wetlands, often separated by natural levees from the main river channels.
The Mitchell River flats were always prone to flooding, and 1891 bore witness to the flood that was only second in extent to the great floods of 1870. The biggest floods recorded were in 1893–94, with them being 76 mm higher than the 1870 water levels. All floods caused the township great suffering, with loss of life, infrastructure and crops. The flooding that occurred in the 1893–94 was notable for the gallantry of Patrick Piggott and George Brooks who both worked to rescue people. However, on their last trip their boat tipped as they moored it and both men were swept into the river and drowned. A witness remonstrated that; "…to the very last, they fought bravely for their lives against fearful odds". Both men are remembered on a marble tablet installed at the Mechanics' Hall (The Bairnsdale Library).
The Mitchell delta is represented as a type-L under the Ramsar wetland type classification framework, which means that it is a permanent inland delta. The Mitchell delta is a classic form of digitate delta (from Latin digitātus, having finger or toes) and is located near the western shoreline of Lake King at Eagle Point Bluff, extending into the lake as silt jetties formed by alluvial deposition of sediment. The Mitchell delta represents one of the finest examples of this type of landform in the world and is a site deemed of international geomorphological significance and is one of the finest examples of a classic digitate delta in the world.
A colony of nationally threatened grey-headed flying foxes (pteropus poliocephalus) roosts along the river in poplars adjacent to Riverine Street. The native bats pollinate over 100 species of native trees and plants and have declined across their range by over 95% since 1900. Their long-distance movement of floral genetic material reduces the in-breeding of trees and help produce strong timber. With a high mortality rate and low reproduction, considerable efforts are being devoted to the bats' conservation.
Wetlands
Macleod Morass and Jones Bay Wildlife Reserves cover an area of 557 hectares and 123 hectares, respectively. The Reserves lie immediately south of Bairnsdale at the head of Lake King and on either side of the Mitchell River. According to tradition, the Tatungoloong clan of the Gunai/Kurnai peoples were the custodians of land and waters and used the aquatic and terrestrial habitats of the area as sources of food and the surrounding open forest for shelter.
Macleod Morass formed with and was eventually isolated from Lake King and Jones Bay with the development of the Mitchell River silt jetties. The marginal bluff marks the former shoreline position of Lake King and the relict gravel beaches and spits were formed by wave action.
The area contains geological features and sites of state geological and geomorphological significance. The extensive "backswamp" forming Macleod Morass, the escarpment ("marginal bluff") along its western boundary, and relict gravel beaches and spits (e.g. Brownlow's Point) are important features providing evidence of once higher sea levels in Bass Strait.